The Hawaiian Department of Education has initiate a plan that will reduce Hawaii's 255 public schools energy costs. The Kai Hei program officially begun on Thursday at McKinely High School in Honolulu. The first phase of the plan will only instal solar panel for nine schools, but by the end of the five year goal the Department of Education hopes to reduce their energy costs by $64 million.

The Hawaiian Department of Education is working with the Hawaiian Electricity Company to reach this goal. They currently have 51 projects planned for Hawaiian Schools and further projects will begin over the summer. The Department of Education hopes that by 2040 they will reach 90% clean energy through these projects.

The Kai Hei program will have an education program that will go along with the renewable energy installations. The program will involve math, science, engineering, and technology.

The Climate Investment Funds as part of their Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries Program or SREP has given Ghana $40 million to begin developing clean energy in Ghana. The program will fund four different projects involving renewable energy mini-grids along with stand-alone solar PV systems, solar PV-based net metering with storage, utility-scale solar and wind power generation, and a technical assistance project provided by the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.

The government of Ghana wants to use these projects to help bring electricity to people in the country who lack power. By 2016 Ghana hopes to have complete electricity access and by 2020 it wants 10% of its energy to be generated by renewable sources.

Ghana also wants to aid its renewable energy sector. The African Development Bank has given $53.5 million to help with this goal. This and the SREP are hoped to allow the renewable sector undertake projects on its own.

At the US-Vietnam Clean Energy Conference this thursday many delegates have pushed for clean energy within the state. They argued that the nation is already perfect for clean energy due to its near constant sunlight and ocean winds. The reason that Vietnam cannot begin developing into renewable sources of energy is their price controls on energy.

The country has a price ceiling of around 7 cents per kilowatt hour on energy prices. This low rate has made renewable energy not feasible for electricity companies. They feel as though the price needs to be nearly doubled to make up for the costs of switching over. Unfortunately, Vietnam cannot raise the price so dramatically because the government feels that this would cause a backlash in Vietnam.

To deal with that problem the Vietnamese policy makers are trying to find a compromise number to satisfy all parties involved. At the same time Vietnamese officials are creating regulations to encourage waste generated sources of energy.

Following the decision by the Australian Government to cut the renewable energy target, the required percentage of energy supplied by renewable energy, Victoria an Australian state has not been able to build additional wind farms that were planned. These farms, worth $5 billion, had been approved and were waiting to be commissioned when the target was cut. Victoria has since petitioned the government to allow their target to be raised so that they can continue with the planned wind farms.

These farms would have fulfilled the original requirement of 41,000 GWH provided by renewable energy. It would have also provided 2638 jobs to the state. Victoria's intent to break from federal policy has also created controversy. Proponents of the cut have argued Victoria should follow the federal plan and trust in the decision. Opponents have seen it as encouraging for a reversal of the cut.

Do you think that states in a country should independently pursue renewable energy? Or should the federal government should take the lead on development?

Apple has announced that it plans to totally switch over to renewable sources of energy for all of its holdings worldwide. Currently the technology company receives 87% of its energy from renewable energy. Apple Chief executive Tim Cook has said that this goal will take Apple years to accomplish, but the end result is worth it .

The company also hopes that this move will improve its environmental footprint in China. This is especially when considering China's heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Apple has been previously criticized for the footprint it's manufacturing chains leave.

Do you think Apple's new 100% renewable energy goal will be sustainable in the long run or will this move encourage further companies worldwide to change over to renewable energy?

The Federal Cabinet of Australia has agreed to lower the target percentage of renewable energy generated in light of the current economy. The original plan was to have 20% of Australia's energy be provided by renewable energy by 2020. This would have supplied 41,000 gigawatt hours.

Since the target goal was made however the demand of energy has fallen. The opposition to this plan has said that if the target is not cut industry jobs are at risk. The new proposed number is 33,000 gigawatts after higher numbers were argued. The new number would still double Australia's current wind power generation. The percentage of the renewable energy power generation would also rise to 25%.

Do you think that nations should change their renewable energy goals to reflect current economic trends or does changing these goals hurt the overall mission of providing more renewable energy?